Major Jamil Saleh
On August 16, Major Jamil Saleh, leader of Jaysh al-Izza, warned that the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and its allies will launch a military operation in the opposition-held areas of northern Syria “soon” and called on the civilians there to not believe rumors.
“A military action will soon begin to rape and occupy some areas in the liberated region,” Maj. Saleh said on Twitter warning the locals.
Maj. Saleh’s warning is a clear response to Turkish representatives, who allegedly told local figures in a recent meeting that the SAA and its allies will not launch an attack on northern Syria. During the meeting, which was allegedly held in a Turkish observation post near the town of Murak, Turkish officials even claimed that the deployment of large units of the SAA around the northern governorate of Idlib is nothing more than “psychological warfare.”
Jaysh al-Izza is considered one of the closest allies of the former branch of al-Qaeda in Syria, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS). The armed group is mainly stationed in the al-Ghab Plain in the northwestern Hama countryside. This region is believed to be one of the main targets of the SAA’s upcoming operation.
dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
You know things are bad when the Jihadist FSA doesn’t believe the Turkish Reports.
I know what you’re going to say to the advancing SAA Cuz.
“DONT TRY TO TAKE MUH IDLIB YOU DIRTY NUSARYRI RAFIDI KUFFAR, ALLAU AKBAR!!, VICTORY TO AMERICA, VICTORY TO ISRAEL, WE LOVE THE JEWS, DEATH TO ISLAM!”
You big fool, Israel and USA are with ISIS, Al Qaeda, FSA. Holy Russia destroys them all these terrorists, allies of Israel.
Huh? I’m confused Cuz. I said that the terrorists are supported by Israel and the US. Did I say something that confused you as well brudda?
don’t expect from your fellows a higher IQ than yours
Well-said! Israel, USA, Nato,Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Saudi Arabia are all the same! They are all terrorists!
This is all getting surreal. Turkey telling militants the coming Syrian offensive is a bluff! Did they say that while the sounds of bombs exploding from air strikes and artillery could be heard in the background as an omen of what is coming? Surfshacktito has it right that it is bad when the militants warn not to believe what the Turks are saying.
Erdogan could not really expect such claims to be believed by the militants. Russia has even said Idlib is next and Russia is known for acting on what they say. As for the promise not to withdraw the outposts, sure, they can stay, and all Turkish personnel evacuate just before the offensive.
Another article speaks of the militants declaring a military zone and ordering all civilians to leave within 48 hours. This is a departure from standard headchopper behaviour so what’s up with that? Also, designating a confined area where you are going to crowd in your fighters after kicking out civilians is like painting a huge target sign saying – over here, over here. Russian reply: saturation bombing coming up.
Lastly, this uniting of the various groups has little practical value. Unlike Hezbollah, Iran, SAA and Russian forces that have extensive combat experience together, these groups are clueless how to coordinate a defence in fluid battle situations. As for Turkey, the statements have been rather bizarre. That said, Turkey has stopped short of threatening direct involvement in Idlib and I doubt the Turkish outposts will have any impact on events.
Then again the cooperation between the various pro-government forces hasn’t been flawless either. I’ve read that during the 2016 battle of the Ramouseh artillery academy in West-Aleppo SAA units withdrew during the Jihadi onslaught, abandoning their Hezbollah allies, causing the fall of the academy. And there have been cases of Russian special forces who were abandoned by the SAA troops they were attached too.
Thing is the Russians have worked hard to improve the training and quality of the average SAA units, and especially the SAA command structure, so cooperation between units has improved. Which has showed as the SAA has gotten better and better with every offensive. Whereas the Jihadis in Idlib have lost their best troops and equipment in the 2016 and 2017 offensives, and been rife with infighting ever since. Whatever cooperation they did have has not improved but degraded, and the civil wars only caused them to lose whatever crack troops they still had and create further distrust between them. Which is good, right?
Yes, good insights. The problems in 2016 I am sure are far less with three years under their belts working together. The current issues you identify facing the jihadists are very true. With the reversal of fortunes turning against the jihadists and weak to fickle support from their paymasters has for sure caused division as well as blame game – groups pointing fingers at each other for being cowards or fighting half heartedly. This plays into the reconciliation strategy backed up by a string of convincing victories over the jihadists.
Some questions remain such as resupplying weapons to the jihadists coming into Idlib. I have seen nothing on this. Did the jihadists arriving in Idlib reform there original units which would make for more effective in battle – little said of this.
One thing for sure, strategic coordination does not happen overnight by joining the various groups. Also, morale problems, infighting and division over whether to reconcile will factor in how this plays out.
Right :))))
A criminal who calls himself major…well…a major criminal he is!
A traitor to his country, and he knows it. Check out the look on his face, he is thinking about the noose around his neck.
What branch of ISIS is he in,and how much is he getting paid to spew his lying BS?.He better make himself scarce because the SAA and company are on their way to his gangster hideout.
Good I hope a Russian Spestsnaz team find you!
lol “rape and occupy” he must have been talking about the shithadists